Adjustable indicator for thermostatically controlled flatirons



March 18, 194 1. Y RS 2,235,723

ADJUSTABLE INDICATOR FOR THERMOSTAT ICALLY CONTROLLED FLATIRONS FiledFeb. 1, 1939 Patented Mar. 18, 1941 PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE INDICATOR.FOR THERMO- STATIOALLY CONTROLLED FLATIRONS Joseph W. Myers,Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Proctor & Schwartz, Incorporated,Philadelphia, Pa., a. corporation of Pennsylvania Application February1, 1939, Serial No. 254,113

7 Claims.

This invention relates to thermostatically controlled flatirons and,more particularly, to novel means for adjusting such an iron accordingto the ironing speed of a particular user.

Thermostatically controlled flatirons are generally provided with afixed indicator dial arranged in cooperative relation with the controlknob and having thereon markings or calibrations including legendsdesignating various types of materials, such as linen, cotton, wool,etc. which require different operating temperatures of the iron.However, the proper operating temperature of the iron for any particulartype of material is dependent upon the speed with which the useroperates the iron and, since different users are naturally inclined tooperate an iron at different speeds,- prior irons of this type have notbeen entirely satisfactory for all users. For example, if the controlknob is adjusted so that its pointer is adjacent the legend cotton," soas to adjust the iron for operation at a temperature level for ironingcotton material, it will be'found that the iron will not be adjustedsatisfactorily for the ironing oi the cotton material by all users, dueto the diiierence between the natural ironing speeds employed bydifferent users.

By the present invention, there is provided a novel device by means ofwhich the user may adjust the calibrated dial at will according to theparticular ironing speed at which the said user naturally operates theiron, thus associating the dial calibrations with the proper operatingtemperatures conforming to that speed. Since it has been'i'ound thatusers of flatirons generally are divisible into three classes accordingto their different speeds of operation, the device provided by theinvention is preferably adapted to adjust the calibrated dial to any oneof three positions, which may be designated high," medium and 10wcorresponding respectively to high,.medi-' um and low operating speeds.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to providenovelmeans on a thermostatically controlled flatiron by means of which theiron may be adjusted by the user according to the natural speed ofoperation employed by that user.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel device orstructure on a flatiron of the type above mentioned by means of whichthe indicator dial calibrations may be adjusted at will with respect tothe thermostat-adjusting mechanism, thereby enabling the user toassociate the dial calibrations with diilerent temperature lev- 55 elsaccording to such user's speed of operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple device of thisnature wherein the said calibration adjustment may be effected by meansof the control knob which is employed to adjust the thermostat.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of a flatiron constructed according to theinvention, showing the 10 fiatiron in dot-and-dash outline} Fig. 2 is afragmentary sectional view of the mechanism provided by the invention,also showing the flatiron in dot-and-dash outline;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the indicator dial 15 showing the topthereof with the calibrations or markings thereon.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cam for adjusting the thermostat;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the cam in in- 20 verted position;

Fig. 6 is-a perspective view of the indicator dial in inverted position;and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the portion of the ironcover plate with which the 25 mechanism is associated.

Referring to the several views of the drawing, there is shown generallya flatiron I having a cover plate 2 to which there is attached the usualhandle 3. Within the body of the iron, there is provided an adjustablethermostatic switch (not illustrated) arranged to control the operatingtemperature of the iron in known manner. The thermostatic switch maytake any suitable form, for example, it may be of the type disclosed inPatent #2348514, granted July 21, 1936, in which case, the thermostaticswitch may be adjusted by means of a pivoted member 4 whose position iscontrolled by means of a rotatable cam 40 5. As illustrated in Fig.2,the cam is disposed directly beneath the cover plate 2 and is secured toa rotatable pin or stud 6 extending through an aperture in the coverplate and carrying at its upper end a manually-operable knob I having a4., pointed end 8. The cover plate has a circular recess at 9 (see Fig.'7) and within the recess there is disposed an indicator dial Ill havingmarkings or calibrations thereon, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

As mentioned above, the dial is preferably proi I vided with suitablelegends indicating diiferent types of material to be ironed. In thepast, the dial has been fixed in position and, by rotating the knob I tobring the pointed end 8 thereof ad-,

jacent a particular marking or calibration of the v dial, thethermostatic switch may be adjusted to range.

operate at a particular temperature level.

In accordance with the present invention, the dial I is rotatablydisposed in the recess 9 and has a limited range of rotary movementdefined by a projection II on the. dial and an opening l2 in the coverplate 2 through which projection II extends. It will be seen that therotary movement of the dial is limited by the abutment of projection Hwith the radial edges of .the opening l2. Further, there are provided onthe dial l0 and the cover plate 2 cooperative indexing and detent meanswhich establish certain positions of the dial within its range ofmovement, and also serve to retain the dial in any one of the saidpositions to which it maybe moved. In the specific illustration, thereare provided on the cover plate 2 three recesses l3 which are adapted toreceive a small projection II on the dial ill. By rotating the dial, theprojection I4 may be made to seat in one of the recesses i3, therebyretaining the dial in one of its positions, but the dial may be moved toanother of its positions by forcibly moving it so as to remove theprojection I4 from the recess in which it is seated and then rotatingthe dial I0 until the projection seats in another recess. As shown inFig. 2, the projection it is formed by depressing the disk III at thatpoint, and the depression is visible at the top.of the disk as may beseen from Fig. 3. Further, there are provided on cover plate 2 themarkings I3a. corresponding respectively to recesses 13, which togetherwith the depression in the dial I0 serve to indicate the position of thedisk. If desired, the legends high, medium and low, may be providedadjacent the markings i3a.' to indicate the respective ironing speeds.

In further accordance with the invention, the cam 5 is provided with anextension or projection I5 (see Fig. 4;) which is adapted to engage theprojection H on the dial Ill. With the dial in one of its positions, thecam 5 may be rotated by means of knob 'I in either direction until oneor the other of the radial sides of projection l5 abuts against theprojection H. Thus, for a given position of dial ID, the cam 5isrotatable through a certain range (approximately 270) to adjust thethermostatic switch to cause operation at various temperature levelswithin that Whenever it is desired to adjust the iron for a differentoperating speed, the knob I is rotated with suflicient force to move thedial from one position to another through the engagement of the camprojection i 5 with the dial projection II. or course, the dial in thedevice illustrated can only be moved to one or the three positions andit is impossible to move the dial beyond either of its outer positions,since the projection II abuts against one of the radial edges of openingl2 in cover plate 2 whenever the dial is in one of its outer positions.

'The adjustment of the dial from one position to another has the efiectof shifting the operating range of cam 5 which, in effect, shifts therange of operating temperature levels'to which the iron may be adjusted.In other words, the projection H constitutes a movable stop, .the

. position of whichdetermines the range of operating temperature levelsto which the iron may be adjusted by rotating the cam 5. The design ofthe parts is such that the proper range of operating temperature levelsis obtained for each operating speed represented by the differentpositions of dial I0.

It will be seen from the illustration and above description that theinvention provides a simple device by means of which a user may easilyadjust the ,flatiron according to natural ironing speed of thatparticular user. As described above, such adjustment is easily andquickly made by means of the same control knob which adjusts thethermostat for operation at different temperature levels within theoperating iron, manual means for operating said cam, an

indicator member disposed adjacent said cam and arranged for movementrelative to the cam and its operating means, detent means for retainingsaid indicator member in any one of a plurality of positions to whichsaid member is movable, said indicator memberhaving calibrations ormarkings thereon each of which represents a particular adjustment ofsaid thermostat when said member is in a particular position, aprojection on said cam, and a projection on said indicator memberengageable by said first-mentioned projection, the said projectionsserving as stop elements to limit the movement of the cam, and theindicator member being forcibly movable through said projections fromone position to another to thereby associate each said calibration ormarking with a different adjustment of said thermostat, whereby theoperator may adjust the iron according to 'a certain ironing speed.

2. In an electrically-operated ilatiron having an adjustable thermostatarranged tooperate the [iron at selectable temperature levels, a coverplate for said iron provided with a segmental opening, a rotatable cambelow said cover plate and movable through an arc of less than 360 foradjusting said thermostat throughout the complete operating temperaturerange of the iron, a rotatable knob disposed above said cover plate andconnected to said cam through the cover plate to actuate the cam, anindicator dial disposed above said cover plate in cooperative relationwith said knobrsaid dial carrying a projection extending through thesegmental opening in said cover plate .and the dial being rotatablethrough an arc determined by the abutment of said projection with theedges of the said opening, cooperative indexing and detent means on saidcover plate and said dial for retaining the dial in diflerent positionswithin its range of movement, and a projection on said cam arranged toengage said first-mentioned projection, the said projections serving tolimit the movement of the cam, and the indicator dial being forciblymovable by means said projections to its diflerent positions to therebychange the calibration of the dial with respect to the cam, whereby theoperator may adjust the iron according to a certain ironing speed.

3. In an electrically-operated flatiron having an adjustable thermostatfor operating the iron at selectable temperature levels, manuallyoperable means angularly adjustable through an arc of less than 360 toadjust said thermostat to operate the iron throughout the completeoperating temperature range of the iron, an operating knob for saidmanually operable means, indexing means on said knob, an indicatormember having consecutive indicia thereon arranged cooper- -atively withthe indexing means on said knob to member are correlated with differentrespective positions of said manually operable means, therebyeflectively shifting the operating range of said manually operable meansand shifting the operating temperature range of the iron to raise orlower the same according to the ironing speed of the operator.

a. In an electrically-operated flatiron havin an adjustable thermostatfor operating the iron at selectable temperature levels,'manuallyoperable means angularly adjustable through an arc of less than 360 toadjust said thermostat to operate the iron throughout the completeoperating temperature range of the iron, an operating knob for saidmanually operable means, indicating means associated with said knob andhaving thereon consecutive indications of the knob settings fordifferent materials to be ironed, the

consecutive indicia on said indicating means indicating consecutivetemperature gradations throughout the complete operating range of theiron, and means for changing at will the angular correlation betweensaid manually operable means and said indicating means, whereby therespective indicia on said indicating means are correlated withdifferent respective'positions of said manually operable means, therebyefiectively shifting the operating range of said manually operable meansand shifting the operating temperature range of the iron to raise orlower the same according to the ironing speed of the operator.

5. In an electrically-operated flatiron having arr-adjustable thermostatfor operating the iron at selectable temperature levels, manuallyoperable means angularly adjustable through an arc of less than 360 toadjust said thermostat to operate the iron throughout the completeoperating temperature range of the iron, an operating knob for saidadjustable means, indicating means associated with said knob and havingthereon consecutive indicia indicating consecutive temperaturegradations throughout the complete operating range of the iron, andmeans for eflfecting at will at least three diflerent correlativerelations between said manually operable means and said indicatingmeans, whereby the respective indicia on said indicating means arecorrelated with different respective positions of said manually operablemeans, thereby effectively shifting in a plurality'of steps theoperating range of said manually operable means and shifting accordinglythe operating temperature range of the iron to raise or lower the sameaccording to the ironing speed of the operator.

6. In an electrically-operated flatiron having an adjustable thermostatfor operating the iron at selectable temperature levels,manually-operable means adjustable through a certain range of an arc ofless than 360 to adjust said thermo stat to operate the iron throughoutthe complete operating temperature range of the iron, indicating meansfor indicating the adjustments of said manually operable means, saidindicating means having consecutive indicia indicating con secutivetemperature gradations throughout the I complete operating range of theiron, and means operable by said manually operable means at the ends ofits movements through said certain range for changing the angularcorrelation between said manually operable means and said indicatingmeans, whereby the respective indicia on said indicating means arecorrelated with different respective positions of said manually operablemeans, thereby effectively shifting the operating range of said manuallyoperable means and shift ing the operating temperature range of the ironto raise or lower the same according to the ironing speed of theoperator.

7. In an electrically-operated fiatiron having an adjustable thermostatfor operating the iron at selectable temperature levels, a manuallyoperable member angularly adjustable through an arc of less than 360 toadjust said thermostat to operate the iron throughout, the completeoperating temperature range of the iron, an operating knob for saidmanually operable member, indexing means on said knob, anindicatormember having consecutive indicia thereon arrangedcooperatively with the indexing means on said knob to indicate varioussettings of said manually operable member, the consecutive indicia onsaid indicator member indicating consecutive temperature gradationsthroughout the complete operating range of the iron, said indicatormember being adjustable to different angular positions to change theangular correlation between -said manually operable member and saidindient respective positions of said manually operable member, therebyefiectivelyshiftlng the operating temperature range of the iron to raiseor lower the same according to theironing speed of the operator.

' JOSEPH W. MYERS.

